Teenager lives anguish of human trafficking

STOCKTON – She periodically called police for any updates, couldn't sleep at night and frequently searched social media websites for any sign of her missing teenager, whom police considered a runaway.

The time between July 25 and Aug. 11 was filled with anguish and desperation for Kimberly, whose last name is being withheld because she has been threatened.

“I honestly don’t want to find her dead, and I think this is where this is going,” Kimberly said in a phone interview about three weeks ago.

Fortunately, her daughter was found within days of the interview in an Oregon hotel, where authorities say she had been trafficked for commercial sex by a 19-year-old Stockton man.

Kimberly has struggled to remove her 17-year-old from a crime ring that has been trafficking her for more than a year, and Kimberly has endured multiple threats because she refuses to let go of her daughter. While the girl may be safe at home, there is no guarantee she won’t run away again or be taken by an unrelenting trafficker.

The case is part of a troubling trend in which coercion or recruitment into the commercial sex trade often begins in high school – in some cases, middle school.

In light of this type of child exploitation, local leaders involved in tackling human trafficking in San Joaquin County say there is a need for education in the community.

A county Human Trafficking Taskforce is in the process of developing an education plan with the goal of preventing teens from being lured, and they want parents to be aware of warning signs.

District Attorney-Elect Tori Verber Salazar said her incoming plan is to take a strong stance against predators who enslave people for commercial sex and other activities. She said authorities will be placing outreach posters at bars, hotels and other places where trafficking can be spotted.

“It is the modern-day slavery of our young people,” said Suzanne Schultz, family crimes coordinator at the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office and chairwoman of the task force’s education committee. “What alarms me so much is that it’s something that people aren't necessarily ashamed to do anymore, and that is what scares me.”

Recruitment often occurs from a fellow student or friend who is connected to a pimp and promises lots of money. It can happen with a boyfriend or even a “homie” playing “romeo pimp” by showering a girl with attention only to eventually convince her or force her into prostitution.

“A lot of these young girls, they’re very drawn to the bad boy at the high school age,” Schultz said. “They’re going to be the one to say ‘you’re my baby. I love you.’

“The girls don’t even identify (as victims).”

Schultz said younger girls are targeted, in part because they’re naive. “They’re so into having a boyfriend,” she said. “And they’re not sophisticated enough to see what’s going on. They’d like to think they’re in control.”

The teens are brainwashed, in many cases held against their will, to stay in the lifestyle. Not only are they coerced into having sex, they're taught to go into juvenile halls, shelters and schools to promote and recruit other girls.

“Their whole world is just kind of twisted,” Schultz said.

Advocates say the children and young adults trafficked in these cases display similar characteristics to victims of domestic violence.

About one third of the time, victims of sex trafficking voluntarily return to the person who controls them, Schultz said. One moment, the controller can beat the victim down, and the next moment can take her in his arms.

That the victim is both beaten and then comforted by the same person causes emotional distress, Schultz said.

Generally, the prime victims are boys and girls who are vulnerable to manipulation, said Joelle Gomez, director of the Women’s Center & Youth Services, which operates shelters, call lines and other supportive services. Gomez also is chair of the task force.

They can be runaways who are looking for survival means. They can be made to feel indebted for the helping hand, and made to pay back that dept through prostitution.

Traffickers target kids in the child welfare system because they lack strong family support or they crave the brand new things other kids are wearing. They are the kids no one is looking out for.

“We’re very concerned about it,” said Gunderson, who also belongs to the task force. “Our population is vulnerable, and that’s why we do our very best to safeguard our kids onsite.”

Gunderson said when the shelter learns of any recruitment taking place there, staff addresses the problem and tries to keep minors on grounds away from traffickers. Mary Graham can't usually restrain youth from leaving, but in some cases, efforts have required court orders to physically keep a child from leaving.

“From a human aspect, we should be caring about what is happening to our youth, because they are our future,” Gomez said. “The prevalence alone, I think, will be really eye-opening to the community.”

“I know of a specific case where a pimp was picking up a kid from the school, driving the line (of cars) like all the parents do, and then taking the kid to go to work,” Gunderson said. “It’s scary.”

Kimberly's daughter is a former child athlete who, according to her mother, started hanging around the “wrong crowd” in high school before running away. Stockton Police confirmed she has been reported missing six times since February 2013.

Most recently she was found Aug. 11 in Beaverton, Ore., in an FBI sting operation. Federal authorities arrested 19-year-old Tyrell Armstrong Jr. on suspicion of compelling prostitution, promoting prostitution and unlawful possession of a firearm. Armstrong and his mother reportedly received $4,000 from soliciting the girl and bought a sports utility vehicle with the money to traffic her.

The girl is one of about a dozen juveniles involved in sex trafficking whom the police department is keeping track of, but the actual number of juvenile victims is believed to be much higher, because many of them are not reported missing.

"That is the troubling part," Gomez said. "Not only are people not looking for them, people don't care."

Schultz encourages parents to talk to their children before it is too late; to be aware and proactive. She suggests parents learn trafficking street terms in the case they suspect their child is involved.

A predator can be someone down the street or an online acquaintance, just as well as a friend of a friend or the boyfriend exchanging inappropriate photos.

“It’s a discussion, unfortunately, that parents should be having with their kids,” Gunderson said. “It should be a discussion like talking about drugs and sex.”

Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez-Moore at (209) 943-8564 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com. Follow her at recordnet.com/courtsblog or on Twitter @TheRecordCourts.